One DSD People, Access and Culture · Area of work · Knowing whether it is working
Measurement, evaluation, and accountability
Telling the difference between a platform that works and a program that improves equity practice, using baselines, mixed methods, disaggregation with protection, and honest limits.
Goals: Eliminate disparities; Community engagement
Why it matters
Legacy data systems were built for billing and eligibility, not equity analysis. Good measurement protects private learning, refuses invented targets, and reports what the evidence does and does not show.
Questions to begin with
- What would change if we knew the answer?
- What is the baseline, the denominator, and the smallest group we will report?
- What do people's experiences add that the numbers cannot?
- How do we measure the program without scoring or ranking people?
Work you can take forward
Plan an evaluation or set of measures
A logic model with baseline, mixed-method evidence, disaggregation rules, small-group protection, and limits stated plainly.
Data, research, and quality · Program and policy staff · Division and administration leadership
- Measuring whether equity work is working, without scoring people — program page /library/pn-measurement-without-surveillance
Ask: We want to know whether a service change reduced disparities. How do we set that up honestly?
Read and present disaggregated data responsibly
Clear statements of what the data shows, what it does not, and which small groups are protected from identification.
Data, research, and quality · Communications and language access
- Measuring whether equity work is working, without scoring people — program page /library/pn-measurement-without-surveillance
- Six commitments for working in partnership — program page /library/pn-partnership-spine
Ask: How do I present service data by race and language without exposing small groups or overclaiming causes?
Tools and frameworks
- Tool card: Minnesota Equity Analysis Toolkit — The State of Minnesota's official equity analysis toolkit, published by Minnesota Management and Budget, used with the DHS Equity Policy. Public. Permitted use: cite, link, follow. The policy owner determines when it is required.
In DSD work
One DSD adds the division's evaluation approach and approved aggregate findings, with limits recorded.
- DSD data and quality
- Needs assessment and listening evidence
- Program evaluation
Connected programs
- Home and community-based services policy and waivers
- Contracts, grants, fiscal, and capacity work
- Data, quality, and evaluation
Situations to explore
- Service data by race would identify a handful of people
One DSD People, Access and Culture